Green living

If “going green” brings up images of solar panels on the roof and electric cars parked in the driveway, chances are you’re overthinking it.

Marla Esser Cloos, of The Home Green Coach/ Sustaining Spaces, said she always starts off clients with one basic question: “What is really important to you with your home?”

She builds on her work from there.

“It’s like anything else,” she said. “How does that align with your values and your lifestyle? So many times it’s such a simple answer.”

She will present a workshop on “Simple Choices for Going Green” during the Oklahoma City Home + Outdoor Living Show, which runs through Sunday at Bennett Event Center at State Fair Park. Show hours are noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission for adults is $10 at the box office or $8 at www.homeshowOKC.com.

The “Going Green” workshop is set for 3 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at the workshop stage on the south end of the Centennial Building. For more information or questions about the events or tickets, go to the website.

People often think going green is an all or nothing proposition, Esser Cloos said. “A lot of time, though, it’s like everything else. It’s finding just a few new things to do and doing it.”

She has worked professionally for years helping people find those few new things as a coach and an author, as well as through podcasts and workshops.

There’s no onesize-fits all model, but sometimes one approach can fulfill different needs, she said.

Take baby boomers and millennials, for example.

“A baby boomer couple may want a home that’s low-maintenance because they want to be able to have time to go visit the grandkids or travel,” Esser Cloos said. “They may not, in their older years, want to be doing as much work on the house, so they may choose a home that’s more durable and lowmaintenance. A young millennial couple with kids may also choose a more durable home that’s low maintenance, but because they’re chasing kids all day.”

In workshops, Cloos Esser breaks her approach into six basic areas.

• The home’s location, including lot size, the direction the house faces, landscaping sun exposure and water runoff.

• The components making up the home, including furnishing and finishes. “How you choose those materials affects the outcome of the home,” she said. “You choose them to be safer, healthier, maybe choose them to be renewable or recyclable.”

• Water use, both conservation and efficiency, inside the home and out.

• Energy use, especially within the structure of the home itself but also its lighting, heating and cooling.

• Air quality, such as ventilation and choosing things like wall paint with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the solvents that get released into the air as paint dries.

• Getting enough information to understand your home and the choices that support you and your family. This might be as simple as deploying organic fertilizers in the garden or shopping with reusable grocery bags — small green living actions.

Such small actions constitute one gateway easing into a greener home, Cloos Esser said. Recycling and eating organically are other gateways.

“Once people start dealing with those things, getting them to translate that into what they’re doing with their home is a lot easier because they’ve already kind of started,” she said. “They may not call themselves green, and they may not even think of themselves as green, but they’ve started on that journey.”

The Home & Outdoor Living Show will feature several special guest presenters and exhibitors, including:

• Brett Tutor, of TLC’s hit show “Trading Spaces.”

• Jeff Devlin, host of DIY Network’s “Stone House Revival,” where he and restoration experts revive dilapidated structures into modern living spaces.

• The Workshop Stage. Experts will show how to get started with a DIY project.

• Camping Corner. From house tents to retro campers, whether roughing it or “glamping,” there’s a camp site for everyone.

• The Cooking Stage. Local chefs and demonstrations.

• The Garden Center. Purchase Flowers, plants and gardening accessories from Marcum’s Nursery.

• He Shed, She Shed-Exo Designs will design and decorate two outdoor living spaces in this feature. Guests can tour each space and vote for their favorite design. They also can enter to win a $500 gift card from The Home Depot.

• Wine Village. Sample and learn about wineries and vineyards in the region.

• Backyard Gardening classes. Experts with From Seed to Spoon and Prairie Wind Nursery will show participants how to propagate herbs and use them in the kitchen and around the house. Each participant can take home their an herb plant.

• Teacher Day. Free admission Friday; show verification at the box office.

• Hero Day — active and retired military, firefighters and police officers will receive free admission on Sunday; show ID at box office.